
PLOT: In a world devoid of speech, a religious community of females is on the hunt for a criminal, a woman who has managed to escape from captivity. Brought back, Azrael is supposed to be offered by being present in the remote location to an ancient evil, but she struggles to save herself.
REVIEW: Samara Weaving would make it to the list of the most talented actresses in horror. Many started to notice her thanks to her parts in Ready or Not, The Babysitter or Scream 6. She has a charismatic screen presence. There is also no wonder why she decided to take a role in a film with no dialogue. However, Azrael is more than just its hook and offers an exciting new heroine and an interesting universe begging for more exploration.
Unequivocally, it is presented and marketed implying that the Rapture has taken place. Those who are left consider even talking as a sin and so everybody has chosen to go mute. There is no strange pandemic forcing this upon them, they are doing this by choice. And I appreciate the fact that the movie refrains from spoon-feeding the audience. So many times, the viewer is dragged through a point, as opposed to permitting us to understand it through the narrative. It all begins and develops toward the required conclusion, without the use of narration to point something out and provide context. I was on the lookout for an action that consisted of the character opening his mouth and speaking a lot of things and this was never the case in the movie.
As expected, Samara Weaving is nothing less than majestic. Suffice it to say, she gets some rough treatment since she spends most of the time drenched in blood and mud. From a mere survivor, she evolved into a woman seeking vengeance. Of course, the surrounding events assist the viewer in this process, but Weaving’s portrayal makes this win.
The world is definitely a post-apocalyptic place, however, it’s obvious people are living very different lives. There are also several clues that point towards there being some sort of civilized-speaking society, which increases the mystery of what exactly is happening here. The film has quotes appearing on the screen in red writing that have also been inserted throughout, which gives it a very vintage feel with religious elements. I was very much drawn to the imagery of the monsters. They looked as though all the color had been drained from the cave hoppers in The Descent. Add in their unsettling animation and they make for an interesting Alein. I wish they would have used their teeth and wood more than just drinking blood and clawing people, but oh well. It is their interaction with the alien creatures that bring out the quality in the other humans.
Easily the best work that Simon Barrett has done since You’re Next is this script and I can only think that it was extremely difficult to write. The dialogue seems to do this all the time the audience in the movie is delivered in a light way. Azrael is the only character one can care about, and that’s quite alright. There was no need for me to learn about the people in the camps. They were attempting to kill Azrael so there was no empathy for them. This is a story about Azrael, and all the other characters are just an endorsement of her narrative. If there is one character that feels left out and it isn’t much of a stretch to say is underdeveloped it is Azrael’s travel companion who is most likely her lover Kenan (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett). So, because we experience the story through Azrael, we know he is somehow essential. Yet the absence of dialogue never really explains matters. And considering how little of it actually gets, it is indeed difficult to do this through action.
If I am honest, I will admit that Azrael does get beat, and a little too often gets away. Nevertheless, it ‘bothers’ me less since every time sets up a splendid set piece to the effect of the creatures of the forest. I would say, that a lot of the story beats are predictable, only that in most cases, it is just looking at it being done assuming a crude form of communication, that gets the job done. The gun battles are definitely a little messy, cleaving to a sense of weight altogether ‘missing’ or lacking. I would have liked to see them used as more effective tools for survival considering they caused so many deaths in the movie. However, it seems those moments are always glossed over.
In the end, I think Azrael is going to find it difficult to get an audience. I can very well understand how having a movie that has a near-complete shortage of speech would have very few willing to take the voyage. However, if you are that brave, you will not be disappointed by a stunning performance of Weaving and strikingly beautiful camera work. There are some uninteresting plot points but the visual style pulled it over the line. I really wished film novelization was still something common.
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